What Can I Substitute for Butter When Making Frosting?

What Can I Substitute for Butter When Making Frosting? Whether you are vegan or health conscious having a few butter-free recipes around is always handy. Below are some top butter replacements and some links to recipes.

There are a few frosting alternatives that do not contain butter, like glaze, penuche or genache. These are not traditionally made with butter and are delicious choices. A glaze is thinner than a traditional icing and works well for cookies or carrot cake. It is essentially milk, icing sugar and a flavor of your choice, often orange or lemon. Penuche is similar to a glaze but a bit thicker and creamier. Genache is very chocolaty, it is melted chocolate and cream. Genache can be used on cakes or cookies or just eat it off the spoon.

Coconut Oil is Everywhere There are several frosting recipes that use coconut oil instead of butter. Some recipes can be made with or without icing sugar if you want a paleo option. Coconut oil also has additional health benefits and tastes great. Coconut oil can also be used in traditional butter cream recipes as a butter substitute. The liquid proportions may need to be adjusted slightly for consistency. There will be a slight coconut flavor to these icings.

Silken What! Frosting Tofu was one of the first ingredients used to replace butter in frosting recipes. There are many recipes online ranging in complexity. Tofu recipes are lower in fat and high in protein. You can’t actually taste the tofu, so don’t worry. The consistency is very much like real frosting.

Whip It Up Frosting Egg white based frostings have been around since the 1900’s. The egg whites are whipped, and that is what gives these recipes their frosting-like consistency. The taste is reminiscent of marshmallows. It is relatively low in calories and low in fat. It is also known as 7-Minute Frosting usually containing egg whites, and either cream of tartar or corn syrup.

Red Velvet, Here I Come Cream cheese icings are delicious and easy to make. These frostings are eaten on red velvet cake, carrot cake or other fruit cakes. They are tasty on chocolate cake or ginger bread too. Some cream cheese icings contain butter, but there are many that do not.

Skip the Butter Margarine can be substituted for butter in a traditional butter cream icing recipe. Margarine does not blend the same way butter does. It tends to break down unevenly. You might need to adjust the amount of liquid you are using to get the right consistency. There are a lot of butter alternatives on the market now. Many of them can be substituted for butter in any traditional frosting recipe.

Green Frosting, Oh My! You would not think that avocados could be used to make frosting, but they are. The frosting will be green, but that just adds to the fun! Squash or pumpkin can be used, but avocado has the creamiest consistency. Avocado can also be used to make pudding, and no, you can’t tell.

Regardless of which butter alternative you choose, you will enjoy having fun and experimenting. Or have your friends over to try them all!

Now that you have your frosting, let’s get creative and try to make some roses!